Hello Everyone!

Welcome to another round of "The Who's Who of Medical Partners." Today we are lucky to get to hear from Rebecca Blume, our new Marketing Officer and Missa Uhlman, our Web Editor. Take it away ladies!

Greetings from the newbie! My boyfriend and I just moved to Iowa City from Seattle and are thrilled to start our new life here together.  Kyle is doing his Orthopedic Surgery residency and I just started working at Billion Auto doing their marketing.  Before the move, I lived in Seattle where I had my hands full with many projects such as designing jewelry, modeling for SMG agency, part-time work at a high-end women's clothing boutique and planning events for a non-profit I founded. I attended Smith College (yes...an ALL women's school!) where I played division III soccer and majored in Anthropology.  To continue to move back in time, I spent my senior year of high school in Rome Italy where I graduated from the American Oversea School of Rome. My sophomore year was spent in Florida at IMG soccer academy and before that I spent my time in Seattle where I was born and raised with my 4 other siblings. Phew! Enough about myself and I can't wait to get to know all of you!

Hey everyone!  I'm Missa (like Miss America! :P) Uhlman and I'm the web editor for IMP!  My husband, Matt, is in his 5th year (out of 6... sigh...) as a Urology resident.  We are both from Washington State, we lived in Durham, NC during medical school, and we are now livin' it up in fabulous Coralville!  We have two handsome little gentlemen -- Gabriel (2 years) and Cyrus (7 weeks), and we have a LOT of fun with them!  I have a doctoral degree in Audiology and I work part-time as an audiologist at UIHC and the VA.  I do a lot of diagnostic testing, hearing aid fittings, and cochlear implant programming and I really love working with my patients!  We also attend Grace Community Church in North Liberty -- a great church, if you're looking for one.  When not treating hearing loss or updating the IMP website, I love cooking (and eating), reading, road-tripping, and cycling.  I don't do much of any of these lately, thanks to the boys, but I hope to make my way back to them in the not-so-distant future!  Matt and I got really into cycling a few years ago and did RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa -- look it up!), which was amazingly fun and an awesome way for us to get to know our then-new home state of Iowa.  I highly recommend it and we are planning to do it again next year, so let me know if you want to join us!  We could have a whole IMP group!!!  :D  I really encourage all IMP members to get out there and enjoy Iowa, particularly if you only plan to be here for residency.  There are LOTS of things to do and see around here if you look: Iowa State Fair, American Gothic House, Balloon Festival, Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, SWine Festival, World's Largest Frying Pan, World's Largest Truck Stop, World's Largest Strawberry... I could keep going!!! :)  I have loved being a member of IMP and I've made some great friends here over the years.  I'm really looking forward to another great year for us as an organization and I look forward to meeting more of our new members!  

Thanks for all you do for IMP ladies!

Hi Guys!

Well our first blog giveaway has come to a close. Thank you all for participating. 

And now for the important part: THE WINNERS! To select our winners I went though and sorted all of the blog responses by city and I put them in the order they showed up on the blog. Then I went to a random number generator and put in the number of people from each city to get our winners!

First up we have Iowa City. We had 15 members from IC represent their city!  And the  winner of 5 free swim passes to any Iowa City pool of your chose is....Drumroll Please

JULIANN TAYLOR!!

Next we have Coralville. We had 5 members from Coralville chime in.  And the winner of 2 indoor pool passes and 2 aquatic center passes is....Drumroll Please

ROBYN GUBLER!!

Finally we have North Liberty. We had 14 members from North Liberty enter. And the winners of a $25 gift certificate good for anything the community center offers are...

LESLEE SITTON and CHELSEA CHENEY!!

Congrats to all of our winners! Thank you all for participating and keep on the look out for August's Back to School giveaway!




**Winners - please email me at [email protected] so I can get your prizes to you!! Thanks! Ashley**

Hello Everyone!

I am so excited about what I have to share with you today. Since we have a bunch of new members, and some returning members who may not know, I thought I would tell you about what your community centers have available for you. The Iowa City area is made up of three main cities (but of course there are other smaller cities close by as well), Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty.

Iowa City has so many great resources for its residents. If you are a resident of Iowa City you should stop into the Robert E. Lee Community Center on Gilbert St. and pick up your ICRL card. Its free and is your pass to all sorts of neat things, like checking out equipment for game rooms or using the workout equipment. Iowa City has two different locations for you to enjoy, the Robert E. Lee Building and the Scanlon Gym. Both locations have recreation rooms you can use and pools. Iowa City also had the City Park Pool which offers swimming lessons though the parks and recreation department. Scanlon Gym also host Tot Time for children under 6. Your kids can go nuts and have a blast on the inflatables and riding toys. If you want to head outside, at Peninsula Park you can play a round of disk golf. City Park is also a great option, when its not underwater. There your kids can ride child size carnival rides (they cost $1 each or you can buy a 10 ride punch card for $6) and enjoy the playground. You can see more that Iowa City’s community center has to offer and check out their most recent catalogue of classes and swimming lessons on their website.

Iowa City also has a wonderful farmer’s market. There are two different locations for the farmer’s market, the parking garage on Washington and College and the Iowa City Market Place (which used to be called Sycamore Mall). The Washington St location is open Wednesday nights from 5-7 and Saturday morning from 7:30-12. The Iowa City Market Place location is held Tuesdays from 3-7.

There are fun, free outdoor activities during the summer in Iowa City. There is an outdoor concert series on Friday nights at the Sheraton Iowa City Hotel from 6:30-9:30. There are movies that are projected outside of MacBride Hall on Friday nights. The movies start at sundown. There are also several festivals that go on in Iowa City throughout the year. In August look for Fry Fest, which is a kickoff for the Hawkeye football season, and in September look for the Soul Festival (the 19th -21st).

Coralville’s community center also has lots of fun things for its residents. Coralville has an amazing outdoor pool that everyone should go and check out at least once with what is left with this summer (admission costs $4.25 for each person over 2 years old). There is also an indoor pool and there are punch cards available for frequent swimmers. The community center also has picnic and volleyball kits that can be rented for $10 per day (with a $15 refundable deposit). They have sand volleyball courts that can be reserved for $5 for a 4 hour period. One other thing that they have available to rent, which I think is really neat, is what they call Touch the Earth outdoor rental equipment. You can rent camping equipment, bikes, and snow equipment. How great is that?!? You can experience fun without having to buy all the equipment. One last program that I wanted to highlight at the community center is the Play Everyday program. It is going until August 18th and it is a fun way to get your family out and enjoying summer. You can find schedules and see what else is offered in Coralville by checking their website.

Coralville’s farmers market is held on Mondays and Thursdays from 5-7 at the Coralville Aquatic Center parking lot. Go check it out and enjoy some fresh food. While you are out stop by S.T. Morrison park (right by the aquatic center) to enjoy some music at the park on Thursday nights from 6:30-8.

And last but not least, North Liberty. I may be a little impartial because I live in North Liberty, but I really do like our community center and pools. North Liberty Community Center holds a library, a workout area, an indoor track (it only takes 8.5 laps to make a mile), gyms and class/conference rooms, an indoor playground, an outdoor playground, and an indoor and outdoor pool. The pools cost $3 per day for youth and $4 per day for adults. The weight area costs $2 per day or $25 per month for residents. Open gym offers pickleball or badminton for $1 and basketball for $2. The track is free for residents, you just have to get a free track pass. The indoor playground is called the Kid’s Campsite play area and it is open Monday through Friday from 9-12 and then 4-8 and on Saturday and Sunday from 8-6. It is a great resource during the winter. While we still have this beautiful summer weather you can get outside and rent different types of equipment from the Community Center. If you want to try geocaching there is a GPS unit available for free. There are fishing poles you can rent for free. There are also Outdoor and Nature Education Packs available to rent (deposit required). You can keep them for up to 2 weeks and there are 10 different themes to choose from. If you would rather stay indoors you can check out one of the many story times or tot times at the Library. Check the website because there are several different opportunities for all different age groups.

North Liberty’s farmers market is coming back this year with their kick off being August 3rd. The Penn Landing Farmer’s Market will be held every other Sunday from noon – 3 on Pancha Parkway near Penn and 965. (Its by McDonalds and Molly’s Cupcakes).

Now that you’ve gotten a very brief introduction to the community centers I hope that you will take some time to explore what your town can offer you. Feel free to check out the towns around you as well! I know that most of the community centers are expecting to release their fall brochures for sports and other programs sometime in the first week or two of August with sign ups starting shortly after (classes fill fast so don’t wait too long). Check out all of the websites to see what you can get involved in. (Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty)

Oh, and I almost forgot the best part! Each community center has given me some fun things to pass along to some lucky members! I have pool passes to Coralville and Iowa City and a $25 gift certificate to be applied towards swimming or a class. How great is that! To win one of these awesome prizes you need to comment and tell me which city is yours. I will let you know who our lucky winners are on Monday. Good luck!

We look forward to the Johnson County fair every year for our children's activity ! We all have such a great time. Thank you to everyone for being patient with us while the dates got switched around on this one. The weather was perfect Wednesday!

Well its Wednesday so that means its time for another round of Who's Who of Medical Partners. Last week we got to know our President, Ali Holt, and our Vice President, Emily Miska, a little better. This week we are going to get to know our Treasurer, Ali Jones, and our Secretary, Ashley Breinholt. Take it away Ali and Ashley.

Hi all!  I’m Ali Jones.  This is my second year being a part of Medical Partners, both years as Treasurer.  My husband Aaron is a fourth year Radiology resident.  After this year he will complete his neuroradiology fellowship here at UIHC.  Aaron and I were both born and raised in the great state of North Dakota (it’s the state north of South Dakota.  Yes.  There are two Dakotas ;).  I have my BA in Elementary Education and my MS in Early Childhood Education. I teach Kindergarten at Clear Creek Elementary School in Oxford and feel incredibly fortunate to have found a teaching job here.  We do not yet have children of our own but have two Yorkies, Oliver and Linus.  When I’m not teaching I enjoy working out, reading, photography and DIY projects.  A huge welcome to all new members and here’s to another great year of IMP!

Hi Everyone! I'm Ashley Breinholt and I am the secretary of IMP. My husband, Cody,  just started his second year of his Anesthesiology residency so we will be here for 3 more year (at least, hopefully longer). We have 4 kids, Rilyn is 7, Casen is 4, and Brigg and Brooks are 16 months. Oh and we can't forget Lola the Chihuahua. They are my full time job and keep me pretty busy. We are originally from Arizona but spent the last 4 years in Pennsylvania (2 years in Erie and 2 years in Scranton - yes the place where the office was supposed to be filmed). We currently live in North Liberty and LOVE it! I love spending time with my crazy family but when I do get some alone time you can usually find me either running or reading. So far I've only done one marathon but I have my eye on doing one in the next year so if any other crazies out there want to run with me give me a call. I really love being a part of IMP. It has been a great way to make friends and get out of my shell. I really look forward to getting to know all of our new members! Thanks for being a part of Medical Partners and making it great!

Thanks Ladies!

Wow, what a fun morning!

The annual Iowa Medical Partners Welcome Brunch was a smashing success again this year, bringing new IMP members together with our current members to kick off the year. We enjoyed a delicious brunch catered by the University Club and had a blast getting to know the incredible women who are part of our organization. We would like to extend a huge thank you to the University of Iowa Community Credit Union (UICCU) for generously sponsoring the brunch again this year – we couldn’t have done it without you! 

Everyone who attended the brunch received an awesome swag bag filled to the brim with donations from local vendors including Bread Garden Market, Iowa Gym Nest, Body Moves Fitness and Wellness Center, Tires Plus, We Run, Bity Bean, Bannor Toys. . . the list goes on and on! These amazing businesses (and many, many more!) all generously provided coupons and discounts for the bags – links to all of the vendors are provided later in this post. We hope you get out there and take advantage of all of the great deals! 

Throughout the brunch, we were treated to several amazing presentations. Sara and Kaitlyn from the Iowa City Mom’s Blog shared their insider’s list of restaurants and fun activities for families in the area, Hailey from UICCU introduced our new members to the credit union, and Tundi Brady from Lepic Kroeger let us in on a few important secrets and tips/tricks for homeowners. Thank you to all of you for your insight and for joining us at the brunch! 

In addition to the awesome swag items, we all took home a terrific door prize – all of which were donated by incredible local vendors. Seriously, these prizes were a huge hit this year! We feel truly lucky to be part of a community that supports organizations like ours with such sensational gifts. Check out this list of vendors who donated either an item for our swag bag or a door prize . . . it’s unreal! 

All Seasons Auto
Atlas
Bannor Toys
Basta
Belly Dance Maternity
BityBean
Blackstone
Bluebird Cafe
Body Moves
Bread Garden Market
Brush & Barrel
Buffalo Wild Wings
Chalkolate Cake
Chilis
Chipotle
Clinton Street Social Club
Coral Ridge Mall Carousel
Core fitness
Darling Bella Boutique
Downward Dog Yoga
Dwell Home Furnishings
Family Video
Formosa
Freshly Picked
Graze
Great Clips North Liberty
Harvest Oil & Vinegar
Infinity Skin Care
Iowa Childrens Museum
Iowa GymNest
Jimmy Jacks Rib Shack
Just Ducky Blankies
Le Reve
LiteRite Photography
Longhorn Steakhouse
Massage Heights
Mondo's Saloon
Moore Photography
New Pioneer Coop
Orange Leaf
Pancheros
Popcorn Shoppe
Raygun
Rebecca Blume Jewelry
Renee's Ceramic Cafe
Riverside Hotel & Casino
Robyn Gubler (IMP member)
Scratch Cupcakery
Sew Darling etsy shop
Share Wine Bar and Bistro
South Slope Cooperative Communications
Stella
Sushi. Ya
Takanami
Texas Roadhouse
Tires Plus
Tompkins Lawn Care
Tutu U (Ali Jones – IMP Member)
VyDa's Nail Salon
Waterstreet Coffee Bar
We Run
WineStyles

We can’t thank these businesses enough for their support of Iowa Medical Partners and we know you’ll enjoy supporting them in return. 

A huge shout out to Dana from LiteRite Photography for donating her services for our event – all of the photos from this post are thanks to her expertise and creativity! 

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Welcome Picnic on August 16th – more information will follow soon via Evite!

Good Afternoon Medical Partners!

I hope that you are all having a fantastic week so far. I know that with this being the beginning of a new Medical Partners year we have had a lot of introductions. I thought it would be nice to help everyone get to know the officers who are working so hard to help you enjoy your time in Iowa. To start things off we have our President, Ali Holt and Vice President, Emily Miska. Take it away ladies!

Hi everyone! I’m Emily Miska, and I am the Vice President of Iowa Medical Partners. I’ve been part of this group for the entire time I’ve lived in Iowa City, and love being part of an organization designed specifically to connect and support others who are navigating our same medical journey. My husband Paul and I are both originally from Salt Lake City, Utah (go Utes!) and I attended college at Santa Clara University in California. My degrees are in French and Art History, and I was lucky to combine my love for both when I studied abroad in Paris during my junior year of college. Paul and I moved to Iowa first for his medical school at Des Moines University, and then to Iowa City for his Anesthesia residency in 2011. He will be pursuing a fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesia in 2015, which will unfortunately take us out of Iowa – destination unknown. We don’t have any kiddos yet, but love to joke that our English bulldog, Tater, is our first child! He is a crazy, energetic, and loving 70lb “lap dog” and he keeps us busy and smiling each day. I work in North Liberty as a Special Events Coordinator, and enjoy spending my free time staying as busy as possible. I love watching and playing sports (especially soccer!), exercising, enjoying the outdoors, reading, cooking, and of course, spending time with my husband when he’s around. I can’t wait for another awesome year of IMP and I look forward to connecting with all of you!

Thank you ladies for all of the hard work that you do for IMP. Check back with us next week when we meet two more of our hardworking officers! Enjoy the rest of your week and stay tuned for a review of our Welcome Brunch!

Ashley

Hello Medical Partner Members!

Welcome to a new year of fun. We are so happy to have you with us here in beautiful Iowa and hope that you enjoy your time here as much as we do. If you are new to the area, welcome. There are so many great things to do here. From all of the beautiful parks to the beaches to seasonal festivals to the farmers markets, you are bound to find something to do. Not to mention all of the activities that we have with Medical Partners.

In an attempt to connect with our members even more and to have another way to keep you all up to date, we have decided to give our blog an overhaul. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts to get to know all of our hardworking officers, catch up on the fun we had at Medical Partners events and activities, learn about ways to have fun and enjoy your time in Iowa, and win some fun stuff in giveaways! If you have any ideas of things to showcase on the blog send them our way! We are always looking for new ideas.

Thank you for joining us for another fun year. We can’t wait to get to know our new members better and for friendships to grow.

If you made it to the end of this post, your reward is a picture of me pretending to be pregnant with a bean bag. HAH!! Embarassing.

Finding the perfect pair of shoes can be difficult if you are anything like me. I am very picky about the types of clothing and shoes my boys wear and tend to stress about it, probably more than is normal or necessary ( especially because my 4 year old won't let me dress him anymore!) But I still get to dress my 1 year old, so I figure, why not have a little fun before he has an opinion!

When I contacted Freshly Picked to see if they would donate a pair for our Welcome Brunch on the 12th, they were SO generous and offered to let me review a pair with my son! I was beyond excited! When the moccassins showed up and I got them out of the bag, the first thing I noticed was how thick the leather was, but yet how soft it was too! You can tell these are very durable and comfortable for little feet.  They offer so many colors and styles, for boys and girls in sizes 1-10! You can even print out their sizing chart to make sure you order the right size. We went with the brown weathered moccs and it was the perfect choice for us!

When I slipped them on Nix's foot they went on like a glove. The elastic makes for easy on and off, but also ensures that they STAY on, unlike lots of baby shoes! My favorite part of them is how cute they look on when he is standing up-- so adorable!

While it's sometimes hard ( at this point in our lives) to think about speding at least $60 on a pair of baby shoes, you can sleep well knowing that these will be durable and if you size correctly, they could last your little one a very long time! I ordered a size 4, and he should be able to wear them the rest of the year. Also, being genuine leather, they will most likely stretch a bit as he wears them in.

Don't have the extra cash to make the splurge? Well, be sure to head over to our Welcome Brunch on July 12th at the University Club. One lucky winner will be going home with their choice of size and color of Freshly Picked Moccs!


Thanks again to Freshly Picked for allowing me to review a pair and for donating a pair for our Welcome Brunch.


HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH OF JULY!!!